The first season of the net anime began streaming last December, and the fourth and final episode began streaming in April.

The story is set in the same One Year War in UC 0079 as the first Mobile Suit Gundam anime series, and it follows the battles between two ace pilots at the "Thunderbolt Sector," a shoal zone with numerous wrecks of space colonies and warships.

The first season received a director's cut edition titled Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky, which includes additional scenes. Right Stuf released an import edition Blu-Ray Disc of the director's cut with both English and Japanese audio tracks on July 2.

Ohtagaki launched the manga in Shogakukan's Big Comic Superior magazine in March 2012, and Shogakukan published the eighth compiled book volume on June 24. Viz Media publishes the manga in English, and shipped the manga's first volume on Tuesday.